Learning How to Fly
by nildrohain
Summary: Teen TitansAvatar crossover. Set directly after The Cave episode in Avatar continuity and after Things Change in Teen Titans continuity. Terra returns home to find that things have changed....and that she is called to be a hero again.
1. Chapter 1

"What the hell happened to this place?" Terra had just returned to the home that she had left long ago to find that it was hardly what she remembered it to be. Where once there had stood glorious arches and strong buildings now there seemed to be nothing but rubble bad memories and unsettling questions. Where was her family? Her old friends? Anything familiar?

Terra floated a boulder in front of her and hopped on top. Riding it she silently surveyed the damage. There was no sign of life anywhere…but how could that be? The boulder she was riding on wobbled twice mid air before collapsing and throwing the pre-teen onto the ground. She dusted off her t-shirt. To make matters worse she wasn't up to her full powers yet.

She thought back to her last conversation with BB. Even though she'd remembered everything she'd lied to him. That part had been like old times. She'd told him she wasn't a hero, not like him. If she wanted to be a hero…she'd have to learn how to use her powers again, no cheating this time. She'd come home to study under her old master, but like everything else in her life it seemed like she'd come to a dead end. What would he tell her to do?

In the middle of the deserted city, Terra sat in the dirt and concentrated. She focused on feeling the earth…her eyes closed and her long blonde hair sweeping the dirt underneath of her. She could feel it rumbling, feel the subtle changes that were missed by non-earth benders. She could feel herself being watched…

"Whaddya think she's doing?" Sokka whispered to Aang and Katara. Katara shook her head softly.

"No clue. She's not dressed like a fire nation scout though," Katara replied nodding sagely. By now they'd long since figured out what fire nation soldiers looked like. And that image did not in anyway resemble the stick thin blonde girl who was sitting in the dirt in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"That's exactly what a good fire nation scout would wear though, would completely throw us off the track," Sokka said, examining the girl closely. Katara stared in open-eyed shock of her brother. She could never figure out if he was an idiot or a genius.

"She's meditating," Aang said. While they had been talking his eyes had never left the girl, he could see what the others couldn't. The slight cloud of dust molecules radiating around her, moving with her breath.

"I think she's an earth bender," Aang said, his face breaking into a smile. Just when they thought all hope was lost, here they had found an earth bender. "She must have been good to survive what happened here, I bet she'll teach me earth bending!"

Katara and Sokka both tried to grab Aang, but before they could he was already over the small wall that had protected them from sight and was running toward the girl.

Terra's eyes popped open. She was under attack. It was coming from the east, a single attacker. He was hers. Thinking quickly she pulled the earth up underneath of his feet, hoping to catch him off guard. But he didn't fall, instead he was…flying? As he flew overhead she was able to see him well for the first time. Not a strong man, certainly not the broad shouldered man that haunted her nightmares, but a boy. At least as young as she was, and probably shorter than Beast Boy. Of course age meant nothing in adversaries. Terra had learned that lesson the hard way. She pulled a spike out of the earth and aimed it at his flyer. She brushed him but he somehow sent the spike back down to earth before it should have fallen. How was he doing that? It was alright though, she had more dirt then she could ever go through in these ruins. No matter what he thought she had the upper hand, she was sure of it.

'Mental note: do not run up to strangers. Got it, ' Aang thought to himself as he controlled his glider overhead. Well, he had been right. She was an earthbender. And rather combat effective at that. But he had yet to get close enough to talk to her. He tried yelling down to her but ended up with a mouth full of dirt as she threw another dirt clod at him. Aang signaled to Katara and Sokka; Aang needed help and he could only hope that the earth-bending girl would forgive him. Katara jumped over the wall trying to be quiet and uncapped the bottle she wore at her side, pulling the water inside out into a water whip.

"Over here," Katara called flipping the water whip into the girl's side and throwing her sideways. Katara wound the water around the girl attempting to freeze her in place but Terra broke through the weak structure and ran, her eye glowing golden. Sokka ran up behind her and grabbed her.

"Stop, we only want to talk to you, " Sokka said trying to remain calm and sound comforting. "We need your help."

Terra had slowed down but these last words enraged her. "Don't you get it? I can't help anyone." The earth came up in a straight sheet knocking Sokka back and throwing him to the ground.

Aang landed on the ground so softly that they didn't hear him until he swung his glider around twice before throwing it over his shoulder.

"Your earth bending skills are amazing…I could learn a lot from you. And maybe we could help you find whatever you're looking for." Aangs eyes were huge, looking at her so tenderly, he really did want to help her. Terra couldn't help but remember the last boy who had tried to help her, how huge his eyes had gotten, and how soft. No…she couldn't let it happen again.

Katara put her hand on the girls shoulder. "My name is Katara, the short one is Aang and my brother's name is Sokka. Why don't you travel with us for a couple days? We're looking for the people who used to live here."

"So am I, " Terra finally said. "My family…they lived here."

"Well as long as we're looking for the same group we might as well travel together," Sokka said.

"And if you learn a little earthbending along the way…so much the better," Katara whispered to Aang, her eyebrows raised mischievously.


	2. Out of This World

The four made for an interesting traveling party. While Sokka led the way and tried to find a decent place to camp, Katara and Aang kept trying to find new and inventive ways to get Terra to spill the secrets of her past, earth bending or to reveal how she had survived the vicious attack. While Terra was eager to talk about some subjects, some of the others caused her to pause or search desperately for ways to change the conversation. By the time night fell, they had just managed to create a habitable camp and an edible, if not delectable, supper.

"More of this mess again?" Katara asked looking down at her bowl in disgust before swallowing a spoonful. It wasn't that it was bad, only that she was quickly getting bored of the simple traveling fare. She missed the feasts that they had enjoyed while visiting the water temple, or the food they'd enjoyed the last time they had visited Omashu.

"Hey, I don't see you volunteering to cook," Sokka said between mouthfuls as he devoured the contents of his bowl and proceeded to fish more out of the pot.

Aang laughed "What do you think, Terra?", he said as he glanced over at the small girl and was greeted by a terrifying sight, she had already polished off five bowls and was still going strong. Sokka and Katara looked over in awe.

"Umm, don't hurt yourself," Sokka said before yawning, stretching his arms broadly over his head. "I think I'm ready for bed." He turned and crawled into the small tent, snuggling in his warm sleeping bag. The others nodded and each headed for their own beds, Katara shared the tent with her brother and Aang laid down in the folds of Abba's soft fur, but he couldn't sleep.

Who was she? And how had she avoided the disaster? He watched her tent. Despite her claims that she preferred to sleep under the open sky they'd convinced her to stretch a small mud brown tent that hardly looked big enough for one person. The more he thought about her silence the more agitated he became. He still didn't know if she was going to teach him earth bending or not.

The flap of the tent moved and he watched Terra emerge and then disappear into the night. Running away? Aang quickly dismissed that as an option. She'd left all of her stuff, he looked over and saw that Sokka and Katara were still sleeping peacefully and then followed her out into the night. He walked quietly trying to avoid detection. She was sitting peacefully on a rock and Aang was hidden skillfully behind a pile of rocks where she couldn't see him.

"I know you're there," Terra said, deliberately not looking at the pile of rocks.

"huh, how'd you guess?"

"I didn't have to guess. I could feel you from a hundred yards away. Every step you take is echoed through the earth and I can feel it."

"Earth bending?"

Terra nodded. "It's easy if you think about it like that. You should try it."

Aang smiled eagerly, an earth bending lesson. Katara was right. "How do I do it?"

"Just focus on the earth's energy and let it flow through you. Think of yourself as an extension of the earth and feel the vibrations of the living things."

They both sat quietly as Aang concentrated. She made it sound so easy but he couldn't feel a thing.

"It's easier if some part of you is in contact with the earth," Terra suggested. "I can do it now with out being in contact with the earth…but it's still easier." She took her socks and shoes off and walked out a few steps. "Once you get good enough you can feel different people. Makes it easier to look for people that you're searching for."

Aang watched her for a second and then followed her lead, removing his socks and shoes and walking barefoot after her. He followed her every movement but could still feel nothing. Aang glanced over at her. Terra's brow was furrowed as she concentrated and her body seemed to glow faintly, but after a few moments she gave up and looked up to the stars.

"Who are you looking for?"

"No one in this world," Terra said sadly, looking out past the stars and wondering if somewhere he was looking at the same stars and thinking of her.


End file.
